"But we've been planning this double date for months!" Evergreen exclaimed.
"Well we can't leave Bickslow alone while he's sick like this." Laxus replied. "I don't want to cancel either but we don't have a choice."
Evergreen huffed. "If only Freed hadn't went on that solo mission this morning, than he could have taken care of Bickslow for us."
"Is something wrong?" Elfman asked as he walked over to his girl, throwing his arm over her shoulders. He had been forced into a suit by his sisters, but looking at Ever's long elegant dress, his suit matched her outfit perfectly.
"Bickslow is sick, so Laxus wants us to cancel our double date." Evergreen answered.
"We can reschedule." Laxus shrugged. "It shouldn't be a problem."
"Actually, that will be a problem, we made reservations, they're booked for months, that's why it took us so long to get in." Evergreen folded her arms, annoyed Laxus didn't understand that tonight was suppose to be special for all of them.
Elfman butted in before Ever could get more angry. "Bickslow should just be a man and stay home by himself."
"I agree. But Bickslow has a fever and I'm afraid he won't listen to us and will try to get up from bed and end up fainting." Evergreen said.
As if on cue, Bickslow started yelling from inside the apartment. "Guys! Hey, let me out of here I'm fine!"
"See what I mean." Evergreen said. "I really don't want to miss our date."
"Well we don't have to if we could find someone else to watch him." Laxus suggested. "But who?"
"Laxus!" Mira yelled running up the stairs to him. Lisanna came bouncing behind her.
"You all look so good for your date!" Lisanna said happily.
"I think we just found our someone." Laxus laughed.
"What are you talking about?" Mira asked.
"We need someone to watch Bickslow tonight while we're on our date since he's sick." Laxus explained.
"And Lisanna is the prefect candidate." Evergreen said.
"What-me?" She exclaimed.
"That's a great idea." Mira said clapping her hands together.
A loud bang came from the door they were standing next to. "Laxus buddy, come on let me out of here. I don't even feel sick anymore." Bickslow said, hitting the door.
"Stop lying." Laxus rolled his eyes. "He was burning up just a couple of minutes ago."
"So will you please watch Bickslow tonight- we don't trust him like this alone." Evergreen said.
"Um- I… I guess so." Lisanna said hesitantly. "It would be terrible if you guys missed your date."
"Then it's settled," Laxus said. "Come on in Lisanna." He opened the door to their apartment, leading her inside.
"Lisanna?" Bickslow said as she walked inside. His nose was red, his face was paler than usual and he had bags under his eyes. "What is this? Let me leave!"
Laxus crossed his arms. "You're not leaving, you're going to stay here and rest until you feel better."
"But I feel fine, look at me, I'm all better." He gestured to himself.
Laxus side glanced at Lisanna, who rolled her eyes. "You look pretty sick to me." She said quietly.
Bickslow turned towards her. "I feel fine, trust me."
Lisanna felt uneasy under his gaze, like he was looking through her. She wasn't used to seeing him without his helmet on. His dark red eyes dug deep into her skin. She looked away, her skin flushed. "You shouldn't lie to try to make everyone stop worrying about you."
"What did you say?" He asked, taking a step towards her. But he stopped himself in his tracks, and his hand flew towards his head. Laxus lunged forward right before Bickslow could fall straight on his face.
"See, you're sick. Now listen to us and go lay down. Lisanna's going to look after you while we're out. Behave yourself and don't give this lady too much to do." Laxus said helping Bickslow to his room.
Lisanna had only been in their apartment a few times before. It had five rooms, Laxus, Bickslow, and Freed's rooms, the bathroom and the front room which was both their living room and kitchen. It was quite clean- which Lisanna thought to herself was probably because of Freed.
Laxus came back into the room. "I hope he's not too much trouble for you. If he is, just knock him out until we come back." He grabbed his jacket from a chair before heading for the door. "Thanks Lisanna. I'll make sure Mira has a nice night out tonight."
As the door shut behind her, she stood awkwardly in the room, unsure of what to do. She had plans to just relax tonight, not having to work with Mira in the guild but there was no way she could just let them miss their dates tonight. The problem was she had a small crush on Bickslow and being alone with him always made her act like a fool.
She was interrupted from her thoughts as Bickslow walked in from his room. "You don't have to stay here, I'm fine by myself."
Lisanna shook her head. "You heard Laxus, you have to stay in bed."
"And I will, but you don't have to stay and watch me like I'm a baby." His voice trailed off.
"Doesn't everyone want to be babied when they're sick?" Lisanna asked. "You should see brother Elf when he gets sick- he tries to act manly but you can tell he likes the help Evergreen and us give him." She tried to lighten the mood but from the look on his face he seemed annoyed.
"Well, I can take care of myself. No need for you." He said sharply.
Lisanna was caught off guard normally Bickslow was happy and playful but he was the total opposite right now. She wondered if it was because he was sick or if it was because she was the one stuck watching him.
Bickslow turned his head so he was no longer looking at her but instead at his feet. "I'm fine."
"Then why do you look like you're about to pass out?" Lisanna asked taking a couple steps closer to him in case he did.
Bickslow moved passed her and sat on the couch. "Lisanna."
"Yes?" She asked.
"I am fine." He said weakly. "Please leave."
After a moment of silence, Lisanna put her hands on her hips and replied. "No."
"Why won't you listen?" He asked.
"Because not only did Laxus and Evergreen want me to stay and watch you, I care about you and don't want you to get more sick. So stop telling me to leave and go lay down."
He looked up at her, surprised. "You care about me?"
"Of course I do. We're both Fairy Tail wizards and I care about everyone in the guild." She said.
His eyes lowered. "Oh."
"You're going to go lay down or I'm going to force you to." She said trying to sound tough. She had noticed the small layer of sadness in his voice as he had said oh but choose to ignore figuring it was just because he was sick.
Bickslow let out a loud laugh. "You force me? I'm so scared now." He smiled up at her but Lisanna could tell it was forced. "I guess I'll listen to you."
"I can make you some food." She offered.
"Fine, Lisanna but remember I don't want to be babied." He stood up. "I'll be in my room, don't make anything too hard alright?"
She nodded and watched him go down the hall, making sure he didn't fall while walking. Looking around their pantry and fridge, she found some broth, noddles, veggies and meat to cook some soup- she tried to remember to thank Freed later for keeping this place stocked.
After she had set the food to cook she journeyed down the hall to Bickslow's room to check on him. He hadn't made any noise in the few minutes he had been in his room and she had grown worried, so worried she hadn't bothered to knock before opening his door. There he stood shirtless, about to put a different shirt on. "Oh!" She exclaimed shutting the door. "I should have knocked!." Se tried to calm down her reddening face before he opened the door.
"No need to be shy, I couldn't have been the first guy you've seen without a shirt." Bickslow laughed. "I mean we have Gray- the stripper in our guild." He opened the door- his face inches from hers. Her face grew redder. "I think you might have a sunburn." Bickslow laughed again.
She turned her face away from him, wishing to herself that she would stop blushing. Even sick he was still able to turn her into mush. She let out a cough, "I'm making you some soup so I was just coming to check on you."
Bickslow's gave her a strange look. "You really are worried about me aren't you?"
Lisanna ignored him, "Just tell me if you start feeling any worse, alright?" She said before turning away to head down the hall. Bickslow grabbed her hand as she turned away.
"Lisanna." She turned around. "Thank you, I know I was a douche a couple of minutes ago but I just don't want anyone to see me like this."
"It's okay. Just know it's always alright to get help when you need it." She smiled, trying to stay calm. He was so close to her she thought he could hear her pounding heart. He leaned forward causing there foreheads to touch. They stayed like that for a moment before she realized his forehead was burning up.
"You have a fever."
Bickslow pulled his face from her. "Really? It feels so cold in here."
"You probably feel that way because you have a fever. Go lay down, I'll bring you some soup in a couple minutes."
"Alright." He said but he didn't move away any more or let go of her hand.
"Bickslow?" She asked quietly looking him in the eyes.
"Sorry." He said letting go and heading into his room.
Lisanna raced into the kitchen, she was very confused. What just happened, she asked herself. He was acting very different today, though she hadn't spent much time with him alone. She thought back to his hot forehead on hers, he was probably way more sick then he let on. If his fever got any higher she might even have to take him to the hospital.
She hurried and finished the soup for him and brought it down the hall to his room. The door was open so she didn't have to bother with knocking. Bickslow was laying on his bed, hair messier than normal, and his face scrunched up in pain. When he saw Lisanna he sat up and tried to put a smile on his face.
"Looks tasty." He said grabbing the bowl from her.
"Hold on." She hurried out of the room to find a small towel. When she eventually found one in the kitchen, she ran some cool water on it. She had to try to break his fever.
"What's that for?" He asked, as she stood next to him by his bed. "Are you going to give me a sponge-bath?"
"I'm going to try to break your fever so you can get better quicker." She replied.
"I think I would have rather got a sponge-bath." He laughed. "Are you sure I have a fever? I actually feel really cold right now."
Lisanna placed a hand to his forehead, he was burning up. "Yes, I'm sure. You have a fever."
"Or your hand is just cold." He placed his empty bowl on the side table by his bed and tried to change the subject. "Thank you for the food, it was very tasty."
"Thanks, now will you let me cool down your fever?"
"Like I said, how do we know your hand just isn't cold, it felt cold to me." He questioned.
Lisanna thought for a moment and got an idea. She sat down next to him on the bed, trying not to think about how close she was to him. "When I was little, Mira would check to see if I had a fever by kissing my forehead, she did it that way because her hands are always slightly cold, so it was hard to tell without kissing my forehead."
"Why are you-" Bickslow was cut off as Lisanna's lips connected to his forehead. She stayed like that for a second longer than she should have before pulling away.
"You have a fever." She whispered. Bickslow looked at her surprised, his face turning red this time.
Neither of them knew what to say after that. But Bickslow broke the silence- "Okay, you can help me get rid of the fever."
Bickslow laid down completely, and let Lisanna wipe his forehead. "I hope you feel better." She said starting to leave the room.
"Lisanna." He called out before she could make it to the door. "Can you-uh"
"What do need?" She asked.
"Can you stay in here?" He asked catching her off guard. Lisanna was still quite embarrassed from kissing his forehead and wanted to hide away until the others got back. But she was suppose to take care of him and if that's what he wanted then she would have to stay.
"Of course." She said turning back towards him.
"You can-" Bickslow paused, trying to collect his thoughts. "sit on the bed with me if you want."
Lisanna looked around his room, it was pretty empty besides his bed- probably since he was always out on missions- but besides the bed there was no where to sit.
"Do you mind turning off the light? I feel like sleeping for a bit." He asked.
She turned off the light, and sat next to him again, leaning against the bed post. Some light came from the lamppost outside shining through the window curtains over them.
It only took Bickslow ten minutes to fall asleep. Lisanna didn't know what to do with herself now that he was asleep, so she watched him breathe. She could feel the heat radiating off of him from where she sat- as far as she could be without falling off the bed. He would shiver every now and then, and Lisanna had to force herself from reaching out to him.
Lisanna struggled to stay awake as the minutes passed. Her eyes shut for a couple moments before she heard Bickslow whisper, "Lisanna."
She forced her eyes open and looked down at him. He was laying on his side in the opposite direction from her. She couldn't tell if he was awake or not. "What?" she whispered.
"Lisanna, you're beautiful." He whispered back.
"Are you awake?" She asked as her face flushed.
He rolled over to face her and leaned on his elbow. "Yep." As he looked up at her, she swore she could see sincerity in his eyes. "I like you, Lisanna." He reached out to lay his hand on top of hers on the bed.
She was sure she could be read as easy as an open book. Of course she liked him, but he was probably half asleep or him being sick was making him not think clearly. Wishing hard that it was too dark for him to see her blushing, she tried to think of every excuse in the book about why he would say that besides accepting that he actually liked her.
Bickslow stared at her in silence, waiting for her to say anything. When she didn't he continued. "You don't believe me, do you? Lisanna listen, you are the kindest, cutest girl I've ever met. When you smile my heart skips a beat, whenever you laugh I feel the happiest I have ever felt just because I know that you're happy. If you don't like me back, I get it but I had to tell you how I felt." He paused and looked for any expression from her. She looked like she was about to cry. "Are you okay?"
Lisanna wiped her tears. "These aren't sad tears." She started, slightly laughing. "It's just I never thought I would hear you say those things. I like you too Bickslow."
Bickslow laughed. "I would kiss you right now, if I wasn't sick." Lisanna laughed with him. He reached up and hugged her. They broke apart after a couple minutes. "Lay with me." Bickslow said pulling her under the blankets with him. "And keep me warm."
"Okay." She said snuggling up against him, his thick arms wrapped around her. He kissed the top of her head and they fell asleep.